As a sixth grader, my daughter has been studying civics in school this year. The start of a new presidential administration has provided an incredible learning opportunity for her and her classmates as they delve into the importance of our…
You might not think forty-six days would provide enough time to make significant changes in Virginia’s laws that affect children, but think again. The state’s 140 legislators plowed through more than 3,000 bills and made changes to the state’s budget…
Are your children among the roughly 600,000 in Virginia who have health insurance through FAMIS or FAMIS Plus?* These are Virginia’s names for the federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and Medicaid, respectively. Or are you among the thousands of…
A new year is upon us, and new leaders are taking office at the federal and local levels. At the state level, our elected officials are the same, but the state faces a sizeable revenue shortfall. What does this new…
Now that the kids are back in school and we’ve all settled into our fall routines, we might think the hard part is over. But for many students, the beginning of school is a time of new, and sometimes overwhelming,…
The massacre at an Orlando nightclub in June raised many questions about our society’s acceptance of sexual and gender diversity, and the safety of individuals in the LGBTQ community. As a child advocate who works so that all children can…
Do you know from experience, or have you ever considered, how stressful it is to live in poverty? Think about a family of four, trying to work one or more low-wage jobs, take care of children, arrange transportation, feed everyone –…
Late one Tuesday afternoon, in a stuffy committee room filled with lobbyists and legislators on the ninth floor of the General Assembly building, an enthusiastic voice rang out: “Woo-hoo for the bill!” Needless to say, this is not the type…
If you got a little lost in all the media coverage about the General Assembly dealing with hospitals, guns, and judge appointments during the session that wrapped up mid-March, that’s certainly understandable. It happens every year. The hot-button issues take…
What happens at the corner of Ninth and Broad Streets in downtown Richmond during the winter months? And why does it matter? On that corner, Virginia’s General Assembly, our state legislature, meets every year for either forty-five or sixty days…
